Viana is professor of mathematics at IMPA, Rio de Janeiro, where he has been a researcher since his doctorate in 1990. He has written over eighty research papers and books, covering several topics of dynamical systems and ergodic theory, and supervised thirty six doctoral students. He was plenary speaker, International Congress of Mathematicians, Berlin, 1998; invited speaker, ICM, Zurich, 1994; plenary speaker, International Congress of Mathematical Physics, Paris, 1994; plenary speaker, Latin American Congress of Mathematicians, Córdoba, 2012. He was awarded the TWAS Award in Mathematics; Latin American Mathematical Union Award; Grand Croix of Scientific Merit, President of Brazil; Ramanujan Prize, ICTP/IMU; Grand Prix Scientifique Louis D. Institut de France. He is member of the Brazilian, Portuguese and Chilean Academies of Sciences, and was the Scientific Coordinator of the Latin American Mathematical Union (UMALCA), the president of the Brazilian Mathematical Society and a vice-president of the International Mathematical Union (IMU). He is the director of IMPA and the head organizer of the International Congress of Mathematicians ICM 2018.

Morel is director, Centre for Technological Development in Health (CDTS), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro. A molecular biologist and medical doctor, he received his MD from the Medical Faculty, Federal Univ. of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil, and completed PhD work at the Biophysics Inst., Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, and Molecular Biology Dept., Swiss Cancer Inst., Lausanne. He has led research projects in molecular parasitology and collaborated with others on neglected diseases and capacity building. He was previously: Professor, UnB; president, FIOCRUZ; and director, UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, Geneva, where he moved WHO forward in areas such as the unveiling of genomes of parasites and vectors, and establishing relationships with product-development partnerships and global ventures in public health.

Rech has been a scientist at EMBRAPA Recursos Geneticos e Biotecnologia, Brazil, since 1981. He obtained his PhD in 1989 at the University of Nottingham, England. He is recognized by his studies on the recombinant DNA technology and its application for development of processes and products with economic and social impacts. His work focuses on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms that governt several types of protein-conformational expression. His awards include: Prize Estado de Sao Paulo Governator; Embrapa Prize for Research Excellence; Commander of the Order of National Scientific Merit, Brazil; and Fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.